Say ‘I Do’ to Affordable Bling: Your Guide to Financing Engagement Rings

Buying an engagement ring is a huge step. When you put it on, you let everyone know that you’re off the market and will soon exchange vows and marry the person you love most in the world. Plus, it’s just so shiny! 

You’re probably happy and ready to share your joy with all your friends and family at your wedding. You need a way to pay for that ring; some high-end ones can be pretty costly.

Engagement ring financing is an option if you don’t have the ready cash to pay for this entire purchase simultaneously. You have a few options if you pursue financing, and we will discuss each one now. Don’t worry; there’s almost always a way to finance an engagement ring that will make your friends wild with jealousy (not that you care about that.) 

How to pick out your wedding ring

But before we get into the money, let’s review some basics regarding ring shopping. Though many women fantasize about the “Sweet Home Alabama” private Tiffany shopping session, sometimes you must be more pragmatic. 

Here are some things to keep in mind when picking out the ring for your wedding day: 

1. Consider your lifestyle: What does your day look like?  If you work with your hands often, you may want to consider a more durable metal like platinum or titanium.
2. Choose a metal: Common options include gold, platinum, titanium, and silver. 
3. Decide on a style: Consider your style and choose a ring that reflects your personality. Do you want something classic or a bit more unique, or maybe you want to go for the latest trend? 
4. Try on different wedding rings: Try several rings to see how they look and feel. Consider the ring’s fit, width, and weight before deciding.
5. Think long term: Will you love this ring in 20 years? Will you love it in 20 minutes?

Getting Financing Through the Jeweler

Your first option is to talk to the jeweller from whom you’re buying the ring about financing options. They often let you finance a call if you have good credit and a job. They’re always eager to be the entity through which you set up a payment plan. They’ll also love you wearing an engagement ring they designed during the build-up to your wedding. 

Jewellers often tell you they have a special rate if you set up financing through them. You can pay no money down or very little money down. They might even give you a better deal if you set up investing for jewelry purchases around Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or another popular time of year.

Get the Best Deal Possible

The jeweller will also say they will charge you no or little interest for the first three or six months. They might even give you up to a year with no interest on what you borrowed if they feel that’s what it will take to get you to make a purchase.

This kind of financing might seem like a viable possibility for you, but if you do it, pay back that money before the interest kicks in, or it balloons to a much higher payment. Some jewellers have no problems charging you close to 30% interest when that six months or year is up. 

You don’t want the cost of your ring to go up substantially due to the interest you accrue on it. You probably have plenty of other payments due to the wedding you must deal with around the same time. You might still be paying for your trip to Aruba or that darling “his and hers” matching washcloths you couldn’t do without.  

Approach Banks or Credit Unions

Banks and credit unions might lend you the money. You should use them rather than some fly-by-night lender advertising on TV during Jersey Shore reruns. These lenders usually have poor reputations. That is almost always the case if their deals sound too good to be true.

Credit unions and banks are more reputable lending entities. They’ll check your credit score before they give you the loan, and they will also likely ask about your employment situation. 

You should be fine if you say you’re making piles of cash. If they see that you don’t have outstanding credit or you don’t have steady work, though, they might turn you down. They might also offer you a loan with a sky-high interest rate. 

Secured Loans

If you use a bank or credit union to get the ring financing you need during the buildup to your wedding, the other option is to pursue a secured loan. If you do this, you must have something valuable, like a vehicle or house, to use as collateral. 

With secured loans, your employment situation and credit score will not matter much to the lending entity. You have something valuable you’re willing to risk, and the lender focuses on that when deciding.

This is potentially a dangerous prospect since you’ll now have a lien on your home or car. You must pay back that loan within the stipulated time frame. 

If you cannot do that, it is not inconceivable that the lender might take away your house, vehicle, or whatever else you put up as collateral. The only way to retrieve it is to pay back the entire amount you owe the lender.

Credit Cards

You can always use a credit card and buy the engagement ring that way. If you do, you might pay no money down, and you can walk out with your purchase that same day. Maybe you’ll snag yourself an engagement ring with diamonds so large that you blind everyone within a twenty-mile radius. 

Since most people have credit cards, this emerges as an attractive option for those who want an engagement ring without waiting until they have all the necessary cash.

If you do this, using a credit card on which you get a special introductory interest rate is probably your best option. Some cards won’t charge you any interest for the first six months or the first year. If you have at least decent credit, you’ll likely get credit card offers like this in the mail several times per week.

Like getting financing from the jeweller, you must track when the introductory rate on your credit card is over, and those high-interest rates kick in. Try to pay off the whole amount you owe on the ring before the time expires, or you may have to pay exorbitant interest rates on top of what you owe.

Additional Credit Card Benefits

Financing with a credit card has another possible benefit. You might rack up thousands of points from your purchase that you can use for travel or other exciting rewards after you tie the knot. 

You may use some of those points on your honeymoon after the wedding. You can use them to upgrade your flights to first class and sip bubbly or mimosas to your destination. 

You may also use your points to get a bridal suite at the hotel rather than a standard room. You and your new spouse can luxuriate in the hot tub until your skin gets wrinkly. 

If you don’t use the credit card points for that, you might use them for something more practical. If you move into a new home with your spouse, you will need some new appliances like a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, or a water heater. 

Those purchases aren’t as fun, but you’re married now, and it’s probably time you try the whole adult thing. You can cash in the points and get an appliance, or you might pay much less for one of them. 

Should You Finance Your Ring?

As your wedding day approaches, financing is the only way to get it if you do not have the cash to pay for your wedding jewelry in full. You can also wait and save money if you’re patient, which might take many months or years. 

Who wants to do that? It doesn’t seem likely you and your fiance will have the patience to wait that long to have your wedding and start your great new life together.

Using a credit card is an attractive option in some instances. If you do, try to get one where you can take advantage of an introductory offer. 

Some of them allow you to pay no or very little interest for six months or a year. If you do that, you can also benefit from your accumulated credit card points. You might use those to take a rock star honeymoon or to buy an appliance you’ll need when you’re married.

You might consider getting financing from the jeweller. That can work if you pay no interest or low interest for a few months and pay off the ring before those crazy-high interest rates kick in. 

If this is how you choose to pay for the ring, you might approach the jeweller around a holiday like Valentine’s Day or Christmas. Those are times when you score the deepest discounts, especially if you turn on the charm and flutter your eyelashes at them. 

With a bank or credit union, you have the best chance at a low rate if you have sky-high credit and a steady job. Be ready for the lending entity to do the dreaded hard credit pull to check into your finances. 

That might temporarily lower your credit score a bit but fear not. You can always take steps to bring it back up afterward. 

If you don’t have excellent credit or a steady job, you might set up a secured loan with a credit union or bank. With secured loans, you must put up something of value as collateral.

A vehicle or a house are the two most popular options. That’s a risky prospect, though. Make sure you repay the loan on time if you don’t want repo men showing up in the dead of night and towing away your prized Hyundai.  

Avoid taking out a secured loan unless you are confident you can pay back the money within the designated period. That way, you’ll get the asset you risked out of danger and have paid off the engagement ring free and clear.

Take a good look at your situation and consider which options sound best. Consider whether the engagement ring you’re looking at is worth the expenditure or whether you might be okay with a slightly more modest option. 

Maybe you’ve got your heart set on the option with diamonds the size of robin’s eggs, but you can probably admit that one is too flashy for everyday use. If you get something more straightforward, you’ll feel less worried about someone running off with it.  

If none of these options work for you, you and your fiance might consider putting off getting the ring for a bit of while and pushing back the wedding. As long as you genuinely love each other and the bond between you is strong, there is no reason jewelry should be the defining factor in your relationship.